Hackers are targeting Ethereum scaling protocol ZKsync stole about $5 million of its native ZK crypto because of "a compromised" administrative account that allowed them to take control of unclaimed tokens from a recent airdrop, the project You can also read about the importance of this in our article Tuesday.
CoinGecko, a crypto-data provider, reports that the native ZK token of the project plunged after hearing about this news. It dropped to almost $0.04 according to CoinGecko. The token has since recovered slightly, and is now trading for nearly $0.05—an 8% decline over 24 hours.
ZKsync, is just one among many. “layer-2s”—blockchains that aim to speed up using the Ethereum crypto network. In order to save money, these networks do not use the mainnet.
ZKsync security team has identified a compromised admin account that took control of ~$5M worth of ZK tokens — the remaining unclaimed tokens from the ZKsync airdrop. The necessary security measures have been taken.
The ZKsync… The ZKsync…
— ZKsync (∎, ∆) (@zksync) April 15, 2025
ZKsync You can also read about the importance of this in our article On X, Tuesday: “All users’ funds have always been safe.” ZKsync and the ZK Token Contract remained safe, and there is no risk to any further ZK.
Hackers were also able mint ZK tokens through the software behind an airdrop. Airdrops are a way for crypto investors to get tokens when they show an interest in a project.
ZKsync said that the incident was caused by an unauthorized key. It is isolated and limited to ZK Token Airdrop Contract. A detailed update on the investigation will be provided later today.
ZKsync didn’t immediately reply to Decrypt‘s questions.
Hacks are common in the crypto world, particularly in the rapidly-moving decentralized application space. Such apps—often built upon Ethereum—use code to automate processes, like borrowing and earning yield with digital coins and tokens.
Cybercriminals from February have made a lot of money for hackers this year Take a look at the following: $1.4 billion from major centralized crypto exchange Bybit—the biggest crypto hack of all time. These funds were mostly sold through decentralized exchanges.
Hackers will be active in the first half of 2025. Take a look at the following: According to Blockchain security company Immunefi there is nearly $1.6 Billion in Crypto. This total compares well with last year’s $2.2 Billion.
Hackers also attacked centralized exchanges last year.
James Rubin is the editor
